Regulations Lift Owners (dutyholder) Need to Know

Regulations Lift Owners (dutyholder) Need to Know

The legal requirements surrounding the provision and use of passenger lifts and goods lifts for best practice. This post gives an overview on the regulations you need to adhere to within a commercial property.

As a lift owner (dutyholder), if you have a lift that is used by an employee in a commercial setting, e.g. restaurant, library, office or warehouse you have a duty of care. The legal requirements surrounding the provision and use of lifts are there to provide the guidelines to ensure best practice.

Do the regulations apply to you?If you are an employer or self-employed person providing lift equipment for use at work, or you have control of the use of lifting equipment, in a commercial business then these regulations apply to you.

What are these regulations?
As a lift owner (dutyholder) there are three main lift regulations to consider:

1. Manual Handling RegulationsYou have a duty to protect your staff from potential injury caused by inappropriate manual handling. As a business owner you would likely be held responsible by the health and safety executive, if you have placed unfair or dangerous demands on your staff by not supplying an efficient way of moving goods in the event of an accident or injury.

LOLER place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment. This includes all businesses and organisations whose employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by them or not. The Regulations require that lifting equipment provided for use at work is:

Stable enough for the specific use and marked clearly to indicate safe working loads

Positioned and installed to minimise any risks

Used safely e.g. the work is planned, organised and performed by trained employees

Subject to ongoing thorough examination and where appropriate, inspection by competent people.

Compliance to LOLER is through examinations these are in addition to regular servicing, similar to how a vehicle has an M.O.T. but for lifts . These are documented in service reports to show compliance.

Do my employees using the equipment have any duties under these regulations?Your employees don’t have any duties under these regulations, but they do have general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, i.e. to take reasonable care of themselves and other workers through co-operation in the workplace.

What do the regulations require me to do?You have a duty to meet all the requirements of PUWER and LOLER by taking every precaution to ensure safety when using equipment in your workplace. A reputable service provider will be able to advise you on the regulations relating to on-going service and maintenance to ensure you comply to PUWER and also undertake the through examinations required by LOLER.